Living a Life
by Celandrea
Summary: A year after “Doomsday,” Rose is trying to settle into her new life. But when a false alarm at Torchwood brings her to her boss’s door she comes face to face with a man she never thought she’d see again.


Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who we'd still have Rose. Alas, as we don't, it's a safe bet nothing related to Doctor Who is mine.

Living a Life

Living a life, day after day. It didn't feel quite as impressive as he'd made it sound. She, Rose Tyler, stared blankly at the computer screen, not seeing the words in front of her. It was happening less frequently now, these black spots of depression. It had been nearly a year since she'd said goodbye to the man she loved. Trapped forever in an alternate universe she'd had no choice but to live with what was left of the tattered remains of her heart. But she'd never forget. Nothing could make that happen.

"Tyler, how are we coming with those projections?" a voice called.

"Almost done, boss," she replied, focusing on the screen once more. She'd got a job with Torchwood since she knew more about aliens then anyone on the planet. It suited her fine, as jobs go. Not as exciting as traveling through time but what are you going to do? She'd been at this job long enough for it to lose its challenge, though. But it paid the bills and kept a roof over her head.

She wasn't unhappy with the life she'd created for herself. Her mum and dad were still deliriously happy after their reunion and now she had a little baby sister, Anne Tyler. She visited them often, as she did Mickey. They're friendship had remained strong over the passed months but it hadn't progressed beyond that. Though her friends urged her to date again, she didn't feel ready to open her heart to anyone new. Besides, who would she ever find that could compare to the Doctor?

Her fingers flew over the computer keys as she finished up her report. No unusual alien activity in the past month. A shame, really. She could have used a good apocalypse.

Suddenly the alarm started to shriek. "Intruder alert, intruder alert."

"I guess you really should be careful what you wish for," she whispered. Jumping up from her station she started to run towards Torchwood's command central. She'd be more help there than at her desk anyways.

As she neared the doors she heard her boss exclaim, "Who the devil are you?"

A new voice, one she'd never heard, replied with an amused, "I'm the Doctor."

Rose froze, her hand on the door knob.

"The Doctor?" her boss breathed. The alarm shut off. "_The_ Doctor? My word."

"Yep, that's me, the Doctor. One and only. I've been meaning to visit this place for a while now but you know how it is, you make plans and at the last minute something comes up. Hit the wrong button and instead of the 21st century you're running from dinosaurs. But here I am at last. And look at you! Little Earth all grown up and believing in aliens."

Rose couldn't wait any longer. Steeling herself she turned the knob and pushed open the door.

"Tyler!" her boss, exclaimed. "This is a private meeting."

But Rose ignored her, her attention focused on the man in the middle of the room. He wasn't the same Doctor she'd known. His hair was longer, shaggy, but at last the ginger he'd wanted. He was taller than she remembered and wearing a new suit. But his eyes, though now blue, were the eyes she knew. Eyes that looked too old to fit the young face. Eyes that had seen worlds end and new races begin. Eyes that she had fallen in love with.

"It is you," she whispered like a prayer. Unable to help herself she ran to him, throwing her arms around him and holding on tightly. "I've missed you so much."

"Tyler!" her boss yelled.

"I knew you'd come back," she whispered to him. "I knew if I just waited long enough you'd find a way back to me." She drew back, her arms still around his neck. "With a new face though. Why did you have to regenerate? And congratulations on finally going ginger."

The new blue eyes widened. "Who are you?" he asked, shocked.

Rose felt as if cold water had been thrown on her. Dropping her arms she stared back at him, hurt. "I'm Rose," she replied. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know a Rose," he told her.

"Of course you do," she scoffed. "Just the same as I know you. You're the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords. Come on, I have traveled with you all over the universe! You've nearly gotten me killed more times than I can count. I was with you when you regenerated after fighting the Daleks and when we faced the cybermen. We've been together two years, Doctor! When we got separated closing the breach between our world and this one I thought we were never going to see each other again. But here you are! What happened? How can you not remember me?"

"Ah," he said softly, in understanding. "Can you give us a minute?" he asked, glancing at Rose's boss.

"I suppose," she replied though she obviously didn't want to leave.

When the door closed behind her the Doctor turned back to Rose.

"Why don't you remember?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Because I've never met you," he said gently. "I've never traveled across dimensions. That shouldn't be possible."

"Nothing's impossible for you," she replied.

His lips curved in the smile she recognized even as it made her heart clench. "Yes well, there's no arguing with that."

Struggling to breathe Rose backed away, her head spinning. "You're not my Doctor," she whispered.

"That's right," he nodded, his eyes grave.

"But you are _the _Doctor."

"I guess Time Lords can be duplicated the same way everyone else can in alternate universes. Hmm," he thought about it, "there might be millions of me running around. Fascinating."

Rose just felt even colder. The Doctor turned back to look at her and the humour fled from his face. "What was our relationship?" he asked her. "In your world?"

"I was your companion," she told him, looking up and forcing a smile. "And I loved you."

He didn't say anything, just watched her silently.

Rose turned away, pacing to keep herself calm. "I know I loved you enough to leave my mother on this side of the rift and go back to stay with you on our side. But it didn't quite work out as you'd planned. I ended up on this side anyways, cut off from you forever. You did find me," she told him, glancing back. "Three months after we closed the rift you sent a projection to say goodbye. You said you were burning up a sun to do it. We only had two minutes. Two minutes that I wasted." She closed her eyes. "The last chance I'd ever have to speak with you and we talked of things that didn't matter." Turning back to him she smiled sadly. "But I did remember to confess I loved you. You were about to say something back, something important, maybe that you loved me too, when the connection was cut off. I'll never know what you were going to tell me."

"I'm sorry," he told her.

"Well, it wasn't _you_ though was it?" she laughed softly. "I guess he really is never coming back for me."

"It would be impossible to cross over without a breach…"

"I know that," she replied. "I traveled with him for two years, Doctor. I know more about aliens than anyone else on Earth."

"Forgive me," he said.

Rose turned her back on him, walking over to stare out the window. Her chest hurt with the pain of crushed hopes. She knew he could never come back for her. She _knew_ it. Yet she had still harboured the fool's hope that nothing was really impossible for the Doctor if he just wanted it badly enough.

_But maybe he didn't want you badly enough_, a cruel voice whispered in her mind. She'd seen first hand what happened to his companions when he tired of their company. Maybe this was just the evitable ending come a bit early. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against the cool glass. It was time to face facts. She would never again look at the Earth from a distant planet or travel through time.

"I'm sorry," she said without turning. "I know very well you must have things to do. I shouldn't have run in here. I should have _thought_. Of course there would be a duplicate; of course my Doctor couldn't come here." Pushing away from the window she walked over to him. When she stood before him she let her eyes wander over his face, seeing the subtle similarities in his face that no amount of regenerations could change. "I know we've never met," she told him softly, "but just for the record, it's good to see you again, Doctor." With a last lingering looked she turned away, ready to go back to the tedium of her life.

His hand shot out and gripped her arm, startling her. She looked back at him questioningly.

"You know I'm a Time Lord," he said.

She frowned, confused. "You're the last of your kind. You fought on the front lines during the Time War and still managed to survive."

His eyes widened in shock. "I wouldn't tell just anyone that."

"I'm not just anyone," she replied.

He stared at her for a long moment in silence. "So you know all my secrets?" he asked.

"I don't think I could know all your secrets even if I lived as long as you do," she denied. "But I know a lot. You trusted me."

"How much?"

"You told me you weren't going to leave me behind like you did your last companion."

He released her as if she'd burned him.

"You told me I could spend the rest of my life with you, even if you couldn't spend the rest of yours with me. I was never going to leave you, Doctor."

"But fate got in the way."

"It was a good plan," she shrugged. "We did what had to be done."

"You saved the world."

Rose smiled. "Yeah, we did. I guess that's something, right?"

The Doctor surveyed her closely. "It's incredible," he replied. "Not many could do what you've done."

"Same goes for you."

"Do you miss it? The travel?" he asked suddenly.

"Every day," Rose confessed. "It's hell knowing all the amazing worlds out there waiting to be explored and realizing I'll never get to go there again."

The Doctor was silent for a long moment. "I don't have a companion at present," he said at last.

Rose froze, not wanting to let herself hope.

"I'm not the man you loved," he told her seriously. "I'm not your Doctor. You will never see him again."

"I know that."

"But having someone who already understands..." The Doctor ran his hand through his ginger hair.

"Someone you don't have to teach and explain to, someone you can count on when things go wrong. And they do," she said with a smile, "they always do."

The Doctor grinned. "Yes well, I'm just lucky." His smile faded as he continued, "But you're right. Having someone that already knows about my life and the dangers I face would be...welcome. I've been alone for a long time and you apparently come highly recommended."

Rose smiled, stepping closer. "Are you asking me to be your companion, Doctor?"

"Yes," he replied, watching her.

Rose looked up at him, studying him. He wasn't her Doctor. He was a stranger really. Was she going to entrust her life to a stranger all over again? Face the dangers that time traveling entailed? But looking at him she wanted to believe this was the second chance she'd prayed for with every breath.

"So," she asked, making a decision. "Where are we going?"

"How does Barcelona sound?" he asked, smiling.

She was quiet for a moment before whispering, "Perfect. It sounds perfect."

The End


End file.
